Today Dell announced a collection of product updates with a focus on education, with the announcement of a new Chromebook 11, Dell Latitude 11 Education Series, and Venue 10 and Venue 10 Pro tablets. Dell first went after the education market with netbooks and expanded to the Latitude 3340 (Latitude 13 Education Series) as well as their first Chromebook. Last year also saw the launch of the Venue line that did well in education. To that end, all are being updated this year and are purpose built for education.

Among other aspects, Dell notes that the new products are more durable – “schoolyard tough” – which will help them to withstand the rigors of the educational system. The durability includes rubberized trim to help absorb shock if dropped, and the Latitude 11 Education and Chromebook 11 are both subjected to MIL-STD 810G testing for pressure, temperature, shock, and vibration. The two laptops also feature a 180 degree hinge so they can lay flat on a table or other surface if needed, and touchscreens with Gorilla Glass are available as an option.

Starting with the Chromebook 11, the device features a Celeron N2840 processor, anti-glare 1366x768 LCD with optional touch, and 2GB RAM/16GB eMMC storage (and there’s an upgraded model with 4GB RAM). It has a sealed keyboard and touchpad, and as noted above a 180-degree durable hinge so it can lay flat. Hinges have been a major point of failure for Chromebooks in education, and Dell says they specifically went back to redesign and strengthen this aspect so that if, for example, a student picks up the laptop by the screen, it won’t break. Other features include two USB ports (one each USB 3.0 with charging and USB 2.0), 2x2 802.11ac WiFi with Bluetooth 4.0, a Kensington lock, SD card reader, HDMI 1.4, and a 720p webcam for Google Hangouts. The Chromebook 11 weighs 1245g and measures 297x218x20-21mm in the default (non-touch) configuration and it’s rated at up to 10 hours of battery life with a 3-cell 43Wh battery. While it’s technically targeted at education, there’s nothing stopping others from buying and using the Chromebook 11, and with prices starting at $249 it should be reasonably affordable, and it is available starting today.

The Latitude 11 Education (3150) at first looks a lot like the Chromebook 11 but with Windows instead of Chrome OS, but there are actually a few other points of differentiation. Yes, it does run Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 (or an education SKU) and it’s launching on Bay Trail N2840. However, Dell will be moving to Braswell later in June/July (that SKU will be the Latitude 3160), and the Latitude 3150 includes a Gigabit Ethernet port as well as upgradeable RAM. Dell has also strengthened the hinge and it has a sealed keyboard and touchpad, like the above Chromebook. The starting price is apparently $379 (subject to change) with 2GB RAM and a 250GB HDD, with availability slated for March 3, 2015.

Finally, the Venue 10 and Venue 10 Pro are apparently identical other than the choice of OS; I say “apparently” as Dell didn’t provide a full spec sheet for the Venue 10, but Dell has informed us that both are using the same platform. The tablets will be using Bay Trail processor, Z3735F (quad-core up to 1.83GHz with dual-channel RAM), In short, with the Venue 10 Dell is bringing Android into the education system with Lollipop, while the Venue 10 Pro is Windows 8.1 with Windows 10 upgrade.

Both tablets includes a hinge-based keyboard option that the tablet locks into (which is an educational requirement in North America). It’s reversible, works in tent mode, and the tablet can be laid down on top of the keyboard if desired. Also included is a WACOM digitizer for inking, though the stylus is an optional accessory. The keyboard can be purchased separately as a $50 accessory, while the stylus is $32.95 with a loop to attach it to the tablet.

As far as hardware on the Venue 10 Pro, the base model used for education has a 1280x800 LCD, but consumer models with 1080p will exist as well. Other features include 2GB LPDDR3-1600 RAM, Windows 8.1 32-bit (Pro is also an option), and 32/64 GB of eMMC storage. WiFi is provided by a 2x2 802.11n chipset, which also supports Bluetooth 4.0. The tablet has a front-facing 1.2MP camera and a 5MP rear-facing camera, both with 720p30 video support. Along with a Micro-SD card slot, Dell also includes a full size USB port and a micro HDMI port. The Venue 10 Pro measures 263x176x9.9mm and weighs 567g. Battery life was not disclosed, though the tablet comes with a 32Wh battery

Update: There was an error in the specs we received; this will not be Core M, but rather that will be the Venue 11 Pro. Sorry for the confusion.

The Venue 10 should use the same hardware, but final configurations have not yet been confirms so while the Venue 10 Pro will be available starting March 3 the Venue 10 is listed as launching in “Spring 2015”. It could be that Dell is still working on getting Android 5.0 fully working on the platform, or there may be other hardware modifications going on. The Venue 10 Pro will start at $330 for just the tablet, or $380 for the tablet and keyboard. As for the Venue 10, we were told the starting price would be $300 for the base tablet during our briefing, but the current press release does not contain any pricing information so that may have changed.

Finally, there are a few other items worth mentioning. One is that the new laptops feature what Dell is calling an interactive activity light. This allows students or teachers to “raise a hand”, ask question, etc. There’s a physical light on the back of the display that is visible to others, while there is also a screen indicator that can be used to facilitate remote learning. Dell also notes that their KACE K1000 version 6.3 software will now support Chrome. KACE is available as a physical, virtual, or hosted appliance and allows management of all systems in the environment. And last but not least, Dell has their Interactive Projector S510 also listed as part of their education initiative, with Miracast and Intel WiDi support; the S510 is available already with a price of $1800.

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23 Comments

I do like the simple look of those educational machines, not to mention the slightly ruggedised build. I've seen them for sale on retail sites but haven't had the chance to buy one in for a customer to try them out.Reply

Dell said Bay Trail during the briefing, but now Venue 10 Pro is showing Core M. It could be that the 10 Pro will have the option of Core M or Bay Trail, but if not then the price is pretty darn impressive. Guess we'll see.... I've asked Dell for clarification.Reply

After double-checking yesterday, today Dell got back to me and said the information they provided yesterday was incorrect -- the specs were for the Venue Pro 11, not the Venue Pro 10, so sorry: no Core M. Damn. Pricing for the VP11 will almost certainly be quite a bit higher as well.Reply

Would you mind verifying the pricing of the Venue 10 Pro? I'm not complaining, but $330 for a Core M tablet seems much too cheap - this is the CPU with a $281 tray price that Intel stated that tablets and convertibles would be $600-900. This is quite a discount, if the latter is true. Will these prices be available only to schools in bulk?

That really is rather incredible. I'm surprised nobody else is giving it more news. A $330 64GB core M machine is pretty impressive. I personally don't mind the extra chunk of the education build all that much. I might actually think about getting a Windows tablet if this is gonna be the new ballpark. Reply